Grantchester Meadows, Gog and Magog, any more Pink Floyd / Syd Barrett references that I have missed here abouts?
Grantchester Meadows, Gog and Magog, any more Pink Floyd / Syd Barrett references that I have missed here abouts?
Last edited by bigfella; 12-06-2022 at 02:55 PM.
Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Living on the west side of Cambridge, It was only on my longest runs that I could reach the Gog Magog Hills. On one occasion, I was running round the edge of the golf course on the hills when a snooty golfer told me that I shouldn't be there. I wasn't used to this: I had gone to Cambridge as a postgraduate after being an undergraduate at St. Andrews, where golf courses are public land and no-one takes any notice of a bloke running through the rough.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
Surprisingly felt pretty fresh this morning after yesterdays run, so was back on the fells again.... starting on the A591 not far from Bassenthwaite i headed up onto the Ullock Pike/Long Side ridge.
Just as i started i had a quick chat with a very fit/fast looking runner getting ready to run, and turned out he was going the same way as me, so i shot off to make the most of my head start... managed to hold him off until almost the top of Ullock Pike, where we joined up and had a bit of a chat... turned out to be Josh from Black Combe who was top 10 at Duddon recently, and 2nd at the Old County Tops... so trying to hold him off up the climb was possibly a little ambitious!
We parted company at the foot of Carlside as he made for the summit and i went straight to Carlside Tarn before contouring round the flanks of Skiddaw to the col betwen Skiddaw and Little Man.... i knew this was going to be unpleasant and wasn't let down.... it was little more than half a mile but seemed to be endless on steep shifting scree.
Down onto the tourist path and noticing i was running late for my lunchtime appointment, make a vain attempt at a flying descent down to Keswick... i doubt it would have troubled the Kenny Stuarts of this world, but having done well over 40 miles on the fells in less than 48hrs it wasn't bad going.
Touched down in Fitz Park with 8 miles and 2700ft.
Brings the week to a close with a bumper 85 miles.
Next week... well its the Midlands Track Champs next weekend and i'm running in the 3000m. I'm going to be well out of my depth... ranked 15th out of the 16 runners with a pb of 10:32.... and the 14th ranked runner has a pb of 9:54.... most of the field sub 9:00
But hopefully i can freshen up after this weekend and get a couple of good club sessions in and have a decent go at not coming last next sunday.
Last edited by Travs; 12-06-2022 at 06:07 PM.
Some weekend's running Travs! Well done. I did the new Trentham Gardens parkrun yesterday and the Passing Clouds route from Upper Hulme today. A bit less taxing!
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
A very warm and sunny club night.
9 x 1 minute reps. Rest period starting at 2mins and decreasing by 15secs each time.... this kind of session really builds into something nasty... the last few reps were very grim indeed on 30/15secs recovery.
8 miles for the session, 12 for the day.
Seem to be finding my place in the group and seeing who i can live with and who i need to set my sights on.
I'm double the age of a lot of them, and got at least 15 years on everyone. One of the younger ladies there last night said she thought i was 25.... either thats a compliment to my running or she's taking the p***
I suspect the latter.
A short and sharp session last night in the heat and humidity. Most of the group either having raced/paced at some big event in Loughborough on Wednesday, or (like myself) racing this weekend.
500m (97secs) (target 100secs)
400m (74secs) (target 76secs)
300m (52secs) (target 54secs)
200m (34secs) (target 33secs)
100m (15secs) (target 15secs)
all off 3mins rests.
8.5 miles for the session, brings me to 45 for the week currently. Although with a track race sunday i'll be surprised if i get over 65miles for the week in total.
Midlands Track Champs this weekend, and after spectating yesterday, it was my turn today in the 3000mtrs.
I was already a little fearful as ranked 15 out of the 16 runners, and most of the field having sub-9 pb's.... things looked slightly bleaker still, when i learned that my friend and rival (and the one guy in the field i could beat) had been involved in a cycling accident so wouldn't be running.
So it was going to be a lonely time-trial. Thankfully i kept within 80-100metres of the next two guys in front for a couple of km, and ran a very satisfactory 10:35....... 5 weeks ago to the day i'd ran 10:53 on the same track, and a fortnight ago ran 10:46 at Oxford.... so obviously sharpening up and running well.... i n fact was only 3secs off my pb which was gained shortly after lockdown when i'd had endless weeks to train specifically for it.
So a pleasing week comes to an end with 66.5 miles on the scorecard.
Next week is the Snowdon Uphill race on friday evening, where i'm hoping to see a significant pb.... then the Holyhead Mountain race pencilled in for saturday, but as that one is enter on day, i might duck out and go for a longer run on Glyders/Carneddau instead... either way it should be a good weekend.... but got a club session to get through on tuesday first.
Last edited by Travs; 19-06-2022 at 08:04 PM.